del mar  Most times when trainers lose a graded stakes, they can be a little sour.

Such was not the case with John Sadler after Sunday’s running of the Pacific Classic. Sadler-trained horses finished second (Kettle Corn) and third (You Know I Know) to runaway winner Game On Dude. In all, Sadler’s horses took home $320,000 of the $1 million purse.

“We’re thrilled with the way our horses ran,” said Sadler on the track afterward. “That was great. You always like to win, but we’re happy.”

Both of Sadler’s horses were come-from-behind types so when Game On Dude got off to an easy early lead through leisurely fractions of 24.19 seconds, 47.96 and 1:12.61, Sadler knew he was running for second place.

“The pace just wasn’t there,” he said. “The speed horses didn’t go (with Game On Dude). When Game On Dude is running 12s (seconds for each furlong), he’s too tough.”

Kettle Corn, who took home $200,000 for second place, was last of 12 horses after the first half-mile of the 1¼-mile race, but jockey Victor Espinoza got him to start slowly moving up and at the head of the stretch, he hit the button.

“He ran a terrific race,” said Espinoza. “They were going so slow up front. I knew that. So I moved a little earlier than I wanted to on the backside so I could get a spot. He fired. He ran big, but we were second best today.”

Kettle Corn was coming off a big win over Paynter in the San Diego Classic and showed his affinity for Del Mar’s Polytrack, again. He has two wins, two seconds and a third in six lifetime tries at the seaside oval.

You Know I Know, who earned $120,000 by placing third, had never run in a stakes race before, much less a graded stakes event, but the 4-year-old gelding showed his fondness for the Polytrack, too. He won an allowance race on Aug. 3 which propelled him into the Classic.

The son of Simon Pure dropped to last at the six-furlong mark before jockey Edwin Maldonado was able to get him moving.

“I’m so pleased,” said Maldonado. “This was a wonderful race for this horse. Going into that first turn I could see they were going awful slow, so I started working my way up, going through the cracks.

“He came running at the end, really well.”

Sadler said both jockeys followed instructions.

“We knew they would have to come off the pace,” said Sadler. “We were pleased. We just thought there would be some pace in the race after reading the press.”

Many people thought there might be as many as four horses vying for the lead early in the race, but Game On Dude wasn’t really bothered.

“What was this guy doing?” said Sadler to some of his owners pointing to the No. 10 in his program.

Delegation, an import from Woodbine Race Course in Toronto, was supposed to be part of the speed but he was very wide in the stretch first time by the stands before dropping down, just behind Game On Dude.

“I liked my position all the way around,” said Luis Contreras, Delegation’s jockey, after finishing sixth.